West Coast Customs

All real nigga's stayed on this side of Eastern Los Angeles. Occasionally you could find a fewAsians, Mexicans, and white people who stayed in the area, some of the most old and run downhouses in the city, but for the most part, it was predominately black. The few whites who lived inthe neighborhood were exceptions, having weathered out the notorious wars of the Bloods vs.Crips, police trespassing of sheer rancor, and the heat of the big city combined. It was definitely not
them
doing all the terrorizing, they’d try and explain to the SWAT, but yet their property wasgetting vandalized. Despite its mean past, it is still prone to crime. The mean streets of Raw Hillshad seen the worst, but it is still no place for sightseeing. At night it is one of the most dangerous places to be.
—
Pacing each other step by step, Junior and E-Dog walked quickly and purposefully while surrounded by the jet blackness of the trail that en-grained a convincingly amount of near sky scraping trees along tank wide bushes. Raw Hills express trail. Beyond midnight, E-Dog bragged how he pulled chicks in the dark. They were coming from a Bachelor party on the top floor of an urban motel building that was rented out the whole night for the occasion.
Bayson, a friend of E-Dogs, was just a mediocre music producer at DecaydenceRecordings but when the executives of the company heard he was engaged, they agreed to helpwith a large portion of the wedding events. They hired 20 of the baddest strippers in Californiaand many of which would do more than that. Catered food, auspicious music, and decorations

were all planned in advance as well as R.S.V.P letters prestigiously sent to some of the biggestnames in the music industry.Many locals came and ten rooms were packed by 8. Arriving around nine, Junior and E-Dog nonetheless had a blast at the party, even though it was tough maneuvering through thethick crowds of people. Both boys had gone to a table where a stripper was being warded withcash by her onlookers below. Thrilled by the scene, the boys stealthily swiped some bills fromthe table and moved to the next room which was a duplicate of the first. There were peopledancing everywhere and Junior watched as E-Dog slid off with an exotic thing with the curves tokill. She had to be a stripper. Junior’s highlight of the night came when three girls sandwichedhim close by the DJ, one in front, another in the back, and one giving him mouth to mouth.Consuming one too many bottles of Hennessy, Junior’s bladder began to pay off. Before heknew it, it was time to use the restroom. He found one but it was locked. He put his ear to thedoor and could hear “Oohs” and “Aahs” and “Fucks”. J figured he knew who it was.“Someone in there?” he asked. No response confirmed his assumption. He knew hisfriend. He relieved himself through a window instead.Later they met up outside after the cops came party pooping that they were “vandalizingpublic property.” Junior asked E-Dog, “How’d you get her?”“The usual. I told her I loved her everything about her.”“Magnum or Trojan?”“You know I had to slide in safe with your future Trojans,” E-dog hinted, “USC all day.”The party had ended, but its effect was very much present. “Man that party went ham,”said Junior, better known as J-Play, as they walked like the west coast lynch mob wasapproaching from behind, going back to their neck of the woods, back to the Hills. Party over.

“Full blown
pig
?” E-Dog ejected, almost jokingly. “It was cool. But a, who says ‘wentham’ out here in L.A. though, fool?”“I was just saying,” was all J could say. He, like the rest of the Hills, knew better than todetest against the motherfucking “Dog” when talking about proper west coast originality.E-Dog grew up in Raw Hills. He was born there, raised there, shit—bred there. Theheavily Chuck Taylor-ed culture of the swag setting L.A. was deeply engrained in him. From theway he talked, to the way he walked—nothing but the truth. Having never been outside the Hills,he wasn’t afraid to let it be known. He was proud of it.“Say 'went in' or something nigga,” E said as the pair passed a water fountain for needytrailers.Everyone living near the proximity knew the fountains were void of water supply, thecounty abandoning the Raw Hills Trails for some years now ever since the height of the wargang activities in the 70’s. The only people who used the trail now were people crossing oversides from Crenshaw Heights—the nearby community that was western. Or bombs looking for aquick spot to crash.Oh, and gang members seeking crime.E-dog fixed his Los Angeles Laker's hat—dougie complimented by his James Worthythrowback—fresh. “But for real though, this L.A. You think I never say ‘went ham in myverses,” he was chuckling now. “Tell you ain’t from here.”Unlike Dog, J-Play was not from L.A. Before moving to the hills in the sixth grade,Junior and his parents lived in Central Florida’s finest, Orlando. When he became twelve, therehe went from Disney World to Disney Land, largely to his mother’s prospective employmentopportunities and possible better living arrangements. The better living arrangement idea quickly

collapsed as Yeffrah landed an office job at the local Sun Trust Bank, earning under $25,000dollars on salary. Then when his father failed to find work, they gave up and settled in easternRaw Hills. Juniors father often coming home late at night, in the heart of the west coast dangersaying, “These jobs—all these motherfuckers—gettin' took up by foreign bastards!”Junior said, “Oh come on,” paused then, “throw me some slack.”He almost tripped between strides. He caught himself, almost saying “Whoa” but held histongue. The girls, the music, the scene, the money—some he and his partner had even managedto stash in their pockets. Junior was still thinking about the party.The party was ubiquitous.“Yeah. Right,” E-Dog said.Born Courtney Stuns to a family ruined by crack rock—from abusing and slanging it—“E-Dog” earned his street name by developing his rap reputation early on before Junior arrived.The heavily jewelry-ed and even more heavily tattooed E-Dog had been rapping since he was akid. To the up most he fitted the profile of a west coast rapper. He dropped out of school in the9
th
grade after becoming friends with J.P. He looked up to a legend in Tupac, also a LA native.He lived in his OG uncle’s trap house when he was young and became used to guns. He learnedto keep protection strapped to him, his piece at the crib now for the party. Having already put outhis first mix-tape, E was what mainstream viewed as a threat. A true menace to society.As the two neared the end of the trail, E-Dog spat at the ground, nearly hitting his shoes.He had on blue Chucks. Of course Play did too. Dog was a Crip by choice so it was important forPlay to blend in around him. Play was anti-gang related.“I got to drain the weasel right quick partner,” J-Play said as they approached the end of the trail. J smoothly went to the end of the pavement on the left side and worked himself inside

the bushes and proceeded to handle his business. Coincidentally, he went to whistling a slighttune:“
Rrr, reo, whh…, rrwwh
.”Everyone who lived in Raw Hills with a nickname had earned it. And just as E-Dog, J-play earned his nickname last year in the tenth grade. But instead of rapping, J gained arespectful reputation by playing baseball. He had been carved out at a young age to be a finebaseball player with his dad coaching him and putting him in little league when he was a youth.Even so it wasn't until the last three games of his sophomore season when the coachfinally put him in as a regular behind the plate. Playing catcher on defense gave him an early feelfor the game. As a result he blasted 13 RBI’s in the final 3 games, capping the year off with asoaring .389 Batting Average. The people of Eastern L.A. began to call him J-Play because,more often than not, he put the ball into play. He particularly looked up to African Americans inthe Major Leagues. Jason Heyward, Jimmy Rollins, and Denard Span his idols. But there are fewblack catchers in the game and he modeled his game after Jorge' Posada, a switch hitting catcherlike him. Entering the start of his junior season, Junior was viewed as a real prospect. A black Catcher on an otherwise all white team. He was a real exception to the rules.The fruits of his labor were starting to pay off. Bombarded with too many athleticscholarships he was ready to verbally commit to USC on a full ride. He just had to come. GoTrojans.Meanwhile Dog just could not get over what his homey had said. “Where do you think are?”Play tried to hold his focus as an outline of a body formed in the junky debris.

E-Dog was rude or oblivious because he gave J no intimacy while he tried to take care of his business. “But for real though, the west coast is different,” he said in an accent. “Maybe if this was Georgia or Atlanta or Houston or some shit you could say something like that. Shid, youcould say what you want then.”“Oh, you a grammar expert now,” J-Play said.E continued to give Junior “the business.” He made a
L
with his left hand and an
A
withhis right hand then put them together, the
L
halfway above
A
forming
LA
. “This LA SHIT!”E-Dog rambled on. “And you’ve been living here
how
long now? Four Years? I don’tknow, maybe the big city just ain't for you.”“All right, all right,” J-Play said as he zipped up his pants and fought his way back on thetrail. “God damn,” J had had about enough. And his tone had increased. Real talk, E needed tocool it down, until they made it out of the trails. What if some fools heard them?But E was on a roll now. He could not stop blasting his partner in narrow nightlife. “ACrenshaw nigga tell you the same thang. If this was Compton, you might’ve had ‘yo big narrowass shot. Them northern New Yorker motherfuckers might make a nigga feel silly. And Florida,well you should know what they’d say out this motherfucker, Ain’t you from there?”While urinating, Junior noticed a bomb lying peacefully asleep. He looked to be so insync; Junior figured he was in dream of harmony. He started to tell E but declined. Figured he’ddo something stupid or elementary like he always ended up doing.“This is the Land of Sipping on ‘Jin and Juice’ and where ‘Hailmary's run quick see’,” E-dog explained, more or less preaching. The youth’s dark skin started to lose some of its passion.His enthusiasm faded, letting the situation go. His dark skin shined.

Lights could now be seen at the end of the path, towards the crossing entrance. Alas, theywere at the end of the trail.Junior took out a wad of bills and flashed them in the air. “Look at all this moneythough.”A couple twenty dollar bills dropped on the ground beneath him. Junior took to sweepinghis mess. E smirked; as if saying, “That’s all of you got?”In the dividing light on the edge of the trail someone whistled an unfamiliar tune:“Whreoo..ryy...”“You heard that?” In a split second, E-Dog's demeanor suddenly took a 180 degree shift.Junior opened his mouth to answer but the words never made it out.“Break Yo Self FOOL!” shouted a voice.“Don’t Move or I’ll bust a cap in your Ass!” screamed another man dressed in all black attire with a black hat and black Gucci bandana covering his nose and mouth. Pointing a M-16caliber assault rifle at either boy.E noted he had on standard black and white Chuck Taylor's. Not a Blood nor Crip, but a‘Folk.“Give me what you got!!”Junior managed to shove a wad of stacks back in his jeans but the two twenty's remainedon the trail's floor.
Are these nigga's working together or by themselves?
The Orlando nativewondered.“Fuck!” Not a stickup, E thought.
Shit
.Junior managed to get a good glance up at the man in dark shades after putting bothhands on his head like a police arrest. The man had on colorful clothes and he looked familiar,

even recent. Was he at the party?No. J had not seen him there. Then he remembered. Juniorthought he looked like the bomb who appeared to be fast asleep.“A why won’t yawl fools just go ahead and leave us alone?
We broke─we ain’t got shit.”
The dog then asked, “And homie, don’t I know you, Folk? From Decaydence Studio?”Real recognized real.“JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP! Empty your pockets!” said the man with the bandana.“I’ll give yawl whatever, but just don’t do anything you’d regret!” Junior blindlyattempted negotiation.“Been following us the whole time and shit?” Dog said. “Nah. Probably crept up on ussmooth. Like a drive by. Don’t yawl got nothing better to do? Man these busters ain’t fixing to
do nothing. Better hurry up and let us be for I─”
The stick up men cut him off: “SHUT. THE FUCK. UP!”One of the men with guns looked down at the ground. And at that moment, the rest of theyoung men looked at the single green piece of
mula
. Dumbfounded, Junior and E-Dog glimpsedat each other.Then, the two boys took off at full speed. E-Dog a yard on Junior.Suddenly the situation became serious. Automatic fingers locked up and banana clips letloose. Gunshots were fired and pitiful screams could be heard from a mile away.“AHHW!”Out of the shagginess of the trails into the bright city of Los Angeles that swallowed itsprey like an early bird in the morning, an Amazon of African American descent song out:“Let peace be in our cities!”

The robbers scrambled for it. The one J-Play thought was a bomb ran to him though, andshort-changed his pockets. While he did so, the robber saw E-Dog raise up and out of the RawHills trail fence. “Punk Ass nigga!” he fanged.Bootlegged style, the gang bangers attention got caught. The boy on the groundresembled the local black baseball phenom. He'd tell his partner but he'd just talk denial talk.The motherfucking Dog scrambled to his feet, out of the trails, and dashed to his crib toget his automatic, knowing that his best friend was dead. Plagued with rage, he grabbed his pistoland flew out the door; revenge was now or never.